And in October, an incredulous Jurgen Klopp looked at Liverpool’s festive fixture list and simply asked: “How do you prepare a team for this?”

The stakes are just as high at the bottom of the table with Sam Allardyce saying the fixture schedule contributed to his “shattered” Crystal Palace side losing to relegation rivals Swansea on Tuesday.

This process of compiling fixtures is done by IT services company Atos on behalf of the Premier League, firstly involving inputting international dates from world governing body Fifa.

Give us a break! Big Sam wants a winter warmer

Then dates of the European club competitions from Uefa are added, before the Football Association adds in their competitions, leaving the dates on which league and League Cup matches can be played.

It has been made more is complicated for the 2017-18 season due to an agreement with the FA to finish seasons early in tournament years - in this instance to give the England manager a month with his squad to prepare for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Where possible, the Premier League and FA will also try to establish a stand-alone date for the FA Cup final.